The Curious Plight of Fred Weasley
by FlamingMooseNinjasOfEpicness
Summary: When Fred Weasley takes a mysterious potion, things go slightly askew. Written for MissSadieKane's competition, "It's a Boy Girl Thing - Competition". I apologize for any OOC-ness. Flames will be used to toast marshmallows.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. This was written for MissSadieKane's competition, "It's a Boy Girl Thing – Competition".**

Fred Weasley POV:

"Hey George, want to know what I found?" I asked my brother late one night in the Gryffindor Common Room.

His head perked up, attentive and ready to spring into action, "What is it?" he asked warily.

"Aw, don't be like that." I gently smacked him upside the head, "It'll be fun!"

"Well, what did you find then?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

I glanced around he common room to make sure no one was in earshot. When I saw we were alone, I leaned towards him and beckoned for him to come closer. "The other day in Potions, Snape dropped a vial full of some weird liquid on the floor." I reached into my pocket and produced a small clear vial, full of a murky purple potion.

"What does it do?" George asked, not impressed by my discovery.

"I don't know. Want to find out?" I asked eagerly.

"Um, I don't know…" he trailed off, his brown eyes staring off into the distance.

"Don't be a spoilsport," I nagged, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Death? Turning into a frog? Losing my ravishingly good looks?" he ran a hand through his shaggy mane of red hair.

"Oh come on, be realistic." I sighed, and went to open the small container.

"No Fred, don't!" George reached out his hand and put it on mine to stop me from opening it, "We have no idea what could happen. I mean, who knows what Snape could've wanted that potion for? I mean he isn't exactly the most trustworthy guy around. I mean, for all we know it could be something that kills you in the most painful way possible. I don't want you to take that chance." He looked at me pleadingly.

I exhaled slowly through my nose and kept my eyes downcast when I spoke. "What I do is none of your concern. I want to know what the potion is, and you will not be stopping me." When I looked at him I instantly regretted it. His eyes were filled with sadness and hurt I had never caused him before.

"What are you saying?" he asked, his voice cracking a little bit.

"I'm saying that you do not control me, and I can make my own decisions. Now are you going to try the potion with me or not?"

"Not. I don't feel like being killed tonight." He stood, and walked up the stairs on the left to our dormitory.

I watched him disappear upstairs before turning back to the purple liquid that had caused my brother so much distress. "Now what secrets do you hold?" I mused, lifting up to eye-level to examine it.

The fluid looked to be constantly in motion: swirling around ceaselessly in its container, faintly sparkling in the light of the dim fire burning feet away. When I swirled it around in its urn, it seemed quite thick and sludge-like. After momentarily examining the peculiar tonic, I opened the plastic lid with a faint _pop_ and raised it to my lips.

My eyes darted around the room a final time before closing as I swallowed the first mouthful. I gagged slightly, but forced the concoction down my throat. It tasted like a mixture of rotting meats and mud, with uncomfortable chunks of something unidentifiable mixed in.

I pursed my lips and looked around for a cup of some sort. At last, I saw a silver goblet a student left on the table. I grabbed it, and took out my blackthorn wand. "_Aguamenti_" I whispered, and the goblet filled with water. I took a large swig of it, which washed most of the horrible taste out of my mouth. But, like any other respectable man would do (well in my opinion at least), I took another gulp of the foul-tasting potion and finished it off.

The water goblet was drained by the time I had finished the tonic, and I placed it back on the wooden table where I had found it. Unsure why I had just taken a horrible potion that was not necessary, I headed back upstairs to the boys' dormitory readying myself for sleep.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

The next morning, I awoke with the sun as per usual. I kicked off the covers, and went to change into my robes. My shirt came off, soon to be followed by my flannel pajama pants. That was when I noticed something unusual. I felt a strange weight on my head. Not very prominent, but still it was different. I reached up to my scalp to find a head of long, curly hair awaiting me. My eyes widened with shock as I ran the fingers of both hands through my new hair. _What the Hell…?_ I ran over to the boys' bathroom, were they had a full-length mirror.

As I approached the mirror apprehensively, I was shocked to see what was standing there in my place. There was a girl that looked to be a year or two younger than I normally was, with long brown hair and smooth skin. She had brown, intelligent eyes, a petite frame, and a ski-slope nose. I raised my right hand, just to see the girl in the mirror do the same. I raised my other hand, only to have her copy my actions. _This has got to be a joke. There's no way I'm… her._ Panic began to set in as I realized what had happened. _Oh no, no, no, no, no!_ I reached up to touch my face to find the same features illustrated in the mirror. My hands reached towards my waist, then my chest.

My eyebrows furrowed as my eyes searched the bathroom in vain to find something to help me with my predicament. _How could this have happened?_ Suddenly I remembered what I had done the night before. The potion. My breathing intensified as I glanced at the girl in the mirror a final time. _Wait a minute… I know this person. No, it can't be. Wait… Oh my God. I've turned into Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. This is not happening. No way. I knew that drinking the potion would be a little bad, but I never imagined this. I mean, of all of the people I could've morphed into, why her?_

_Well, I suppose that there's nothing I can do about it until the spell wears off… If it wears off. _I took one last deep breath and walked out into the bedroom again. A few of my classmates were mumbling in their sleep and becoming restless, but no one had woken up yet.

I tiptoed to my bed, but stopped short and flinched when there was a massive creak in the floorboards, one that echoed off the walls. After a second of hesitation to make sure everyone was still asleep, I carried on with my venture across the dormitory.

"Mmm…" someone across the room mumbled in his sleep. A figure sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Hermione, is that you?" my brother Ron asked sleepily.

"Um, no. This is all just a dream. Go back to sleep." I responded, startled by his wake from slumber.

"What ever you say…" he mumbled, and collapsed back onto his pillow.

I inhaled deeply, and changed into my robes for the day. Then I walked to the door that led to the Common Room. The door gently creaked open, and I tiptoed down the stairs to the scarlet-and-gold clad room. There wasn't really anything to do, I figured, except wait until breakfast and hope that no one talks to me in my new form.

A thought suddenly hit me: _What happened to the real Hermione, then?_ After a few minutes of worrying and wondering, I decided not to think about it. Worry never helps anything, after all. I checked my wristwatch, and saw that it was 5:23 in the morning. I would just wait down here until everyone was up, and then make as little eye contact with everyone as possible.

My eyes shut of their own accord, and I soon found myself in the land of sleep. I was having a strange dream about being chased by a giant radish, which changed into a hippogriff, then into the potion that I drank the previous night. Someone shaking me awake awaked me abruptly, and I opened my eyes to see none other than Harry Potter in front of me, with Ron behind him.

"We have a Potions exam due today, and we forgot all about it. Could you help us with it?" the green-eyed fourth year asked.

"What…?" I responded, momentarily forgetting about the effects of the potion I had drunk. "Oh, yeah, um, I don't know." I had finally come to my senses.

"Come on, please? You're our only hope! Snape'll kill us for sure if we turn it in late again." he looked pleadingly at me.

"I, um, need to go… uh, yeah. See you guys later." I rushed away before either of them had time to speak again.

The Common Room was filling up quickly, and there were about two-dozen students already milling about. I glanced around frantically, hoping to see either George (I would need to apologize to him after I explained everything) or Hermione (who may or may not be in my body.)

Soon, I found who I was looking for. There was someone sitting on the windowsill on the opposite side of the room as me. He had the same body as me, but was glancing around nervously, as if hoping that no one would come near. I began to approach him, and soon we were face-to-face.

"Hermione, is that you?" I whispered to her.

"Yes," she responded, "Are you Fred?"

"Yep, that's me." I replied. My voice sounded feminine in my ears, and it was very strange.

"What the hell happened? I've been freaking out all morning. Did you pull another stunt with George again? When will everything be back to normal?" he, or should I say she, started shooting out questions rapid-fire.

"Woah, slow down there." I told Hermione, "Well, to tell you the truth, I think I know why it's like this." I recounted what had happened the night before, leaving out the part about George and I getting into a fight.

"So this is all your fault then?" She sounded extremely cross with me, and I couldn't exactly blame her. I mean I did make her switch bodies with me, even though I had no idea that it would be the outcome. But even so, it was completely and entirely my fault.

I nodded, and then asked her, "So what are we going to do?"

She thought for a moment, the replied. "Well I suppose we just need to wait until the spell wears off…"

"But what if it doesn't ever wear off?" I was getting worried.

"That's a bridge we'll cross when we get there. But no telling anyone, okay? Just act like me and I'll act like you. Meet me back here at the end of the day and we'll go to Dumbledore's office together to explain what happened."

I nodded, and the two of us walked to the Great hall together for breakfast. When we reached the point where we needed to go sit at our usual places, she turned towards me. "Well I'll be seeing you later, then?" she asked. I nodded, and we parted ways.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of these characters. This was written for MissSadieKane's competition, "It's a Boy Girl Thing - Competition".**

Fred Weasley POV:

I headed over to the spot where my brother Ron and his friend, the famous Harry Potter were sitting, scrambling to finish the essay they were previously worried about. "Oh Hermione, thank God you're here." said Ron, looking relieved when I sat down across from them.

_Okay,_ I thought,_ Now's the time to really sell this "Hermione" act._ I took a deep breath, and tried to look as calm as I could. "What do you need?" I asked. My voice sounded unnaturally high, even with my new feminine tone.

"Well this essay Snape's assigned us is due in like an hour, and we're maybe a quarter done with it. So we need your help. Please?" Harry begged.

_Oh right, she's supposed to be some sort of genius_ I remembered. Well this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. "What's the topic on?" I asked them.

"Uh, hold on a second." Ron searched through his bag until he pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, with a small stain- no doubt from food- on the corner. "Uh, the effects of wolfs bane on werewolves and other shape shifters." he read out from the page.

I looked at them blankly, unaware what it was, and their faces slowly fell. "So you don't know?" Harry asked. I shook my head, and they gave each other looks.

"What are we going to do? Snape's going to have a fit!" Ron was panicking.

"This is not good…" Harry muttered under his breath.

Ron glanced up from the mostly-empty parchment lying on the table, and a look of disgust came into his face. "Look who it is, dear old Vicky." he mumbled.

I turned around to see what he was talking about, and saw the famous quidditch player, Viktor Krum approaching us. He was looking at me hungrily, and I remembered, _Oh right, Hermione was going out with him. Shit… I need to pretend to be his girlfriend._ Viktor was soon standing next to me, his lips right next to my ear.

"Meet me at ze doors of ze Great Hall in five minutes. I vould like to talk vith you." he breathed. I could just make out what he said under his heavy accent.

With a swish of his cloak, the quidditch star turned away and made his way back to the table where the rest of the Durmstrang students were residing.

"What did he want?" Ron said moodily, like he had a grudge against Viktor.

"Nothing. And why would it be any of your business?" I snapped at him. I don't know, that just seemed like a Hermione-ish thing to do. The redhead shrugged, and went back to scribbling furiously on his parchment, occasionally taking bites of his hot cereal.

I tried to be as quiet as possible for the next few minutes. I didn't exactly want to draw attention to the fact that I wasn't Hermione. After I had finished eating an orange, I collected my stuff and readied myself for leaving.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, for Ron was still moping about.

"Um, I left something in the dormitory." I lied, and then hurried away to avoid any further questioning.

I took the long way to the doors of the great Hall, making sure to walk past the spot where Hermione-in-my-body was sitting with George and Lee Jordan, to make sure she was all right. She caught my eye, and gave me a death glare, which, fortunately, her two tablemates didn't notice.

I looped back around the room and waited by the doors for Viktor to arrive. I really hoped that it wasn't anything important. Hermione was never late for her classes, and I didn't plan on being so either. Eventually, he arrived clad in dark green and black robes, Durmstrang's school colors. "What is it?" I asked him when he was within earshot.

"I just feel like ve don't get to see each ozzer very much. Now ve are alone and can talk," he replied matter-of-factly.

I looked up at him cautiously. Even though I was supposed to act like Hermione until we could get this whole mess figured out, there was no way I was going to snog Viktor Krum. Not happening. But then again, he just said he wanted to talk. I figured that as long as we kept the physical interaction to a minimum, I guess it'd be all right to talk with him for a bit.

He ushered me down the hall a bit until we were both sitting on a windowsill, the window overlooking a courtyard with a few people out walking around. "So what do you want to talk about, then?" I asked, my tone sharper than I intended it to be.

"Us. Vat vill ve do ven I need to go back to ze castle of Durmstrang? How vill ve keep in contact?" he asked, a note of regret in his voice.

"Well, I suppose we could contact each other by owl that's probably the easiest and quickest method. And maybe we could meet somewhere over summer holiday? It's a bit early to be thinking about that now though, don't you think? I mean the tri-wizard tournament isn't over for at least another few weeks. So you'll stay for at least that long." I was just making things up on the spot now. I mean, yeah couples are allowed to talk about their "feelings" and whatnot, but did he really need to bring up the topic now?

"I do not know. Possibly ve could arrange somezhing." he replied, staring off into the distance. Suddenly, he looked down at me into my eyes. There was a curious, hungry look in them. His face started moving closer slowly, until I could feel his breath on my face.

I broke out into a cold sweat, and started to mentally panic. _He isn't about to kiss me, is he? I mean, sure that's great for Hermione and all, but I can't go through with that._ As his face came closer, his eyes shut. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, I chose the much more selfish of my two options. I moved my face so it was out of the way of his advancing head, and hurried away.

He opened his eyes immediately and called after me, "Vhere are you going?" I ignored him, and kept on running down the corridor. _Sorry, Vicky_ I thought as I got further and further away from the German celebrity.

I took my schedule out of my bag, and checked to see what my first class was. I saw it was Herbolgy, and hurried out onto the school's grounds. I really hoped that the real Hermione wouldn't hate me when I tell her what I did. I mean, I _did_ just practically ruin her chances of ever talking to her attractive boyfriend ever again. But it was all for a good cause, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of these characters. This was written for MissSadieKane's competition, "It's a Boy Girl Thing - Competition".**

Fred Weasley POV:

The rest of the day passed in a flurry of uncomfortable encounters, most of which I was just barely able to keep my cover in. I received many a strange look from professors, most likely because I never raised my hand in class. _Of course Hermione would raise her hand all the time,_ I thought during my final class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures. Whenever Hagrid asked a question no one knew the answer to, he pleadingly looked to me for the answer. I felt bad to disappoint him with my lack of answer, but in my opinion it was worth it. My options were to not answer his question about thestrals or risk blowing my cover, and personally I preferred the former.

The day passed without major confrontation (not including the Viktor incident), which I was extremely grateful for. When Hagrid dismissed our class, I practically ran to the Gryffindor Common Room where I'd be meeting the real Hermione. When I got there it was almost empty, with just a few first-year students milling about. I spotted myself (which was actually Hermione) sitting where we spoke that morning.

I walked over to her, and she looked up at me worriedly. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Well what if… What if we never change back?" she asked. I hadn't thought about it, but tried my best to appear strong.

With a shrug, I said, "Don't worry, Dumbledore will make sure we change back soon."

She nodded, and stood up. We walked together in silence to Dumbledore's office. When we got there, the giant stone gargoyle blocking the door made me realize that neither of us had the password. I was about to say something when Dumbledore came walking to us from down the hall. I could hear Hermione's sigh of relief when she saw him there.

"I thought we were going to need to guess the password," she mumbled just loudly enough to hear. I nodded, even though she probably didn't see it.

When Dumbledore finally arrived, he nodded at us, looking a bit worried. "Fizzing Whizbees," he announced, and the gargoyle swung open to reveal a long staircase.

When we were seated in Dumbledore's office, he sat down at his large desk, and urged us to take a seat in the two chairs in front of him. "So what happens to be the problem?" he asked us.

Hermione gave me a worried look, so I started. "Hermione and us switched bodies. I'm Fred Weasley, and that's Hermione Granger." I nodded to the wizard sitting next to me. "I took a potion I wasn't supposed to, and then we just… Switched."

"What did the potion look like?" Dumbledore asked, unperturbed.

"Well, um, it was purple, and really thick, and it looked like it was shimmering. It tasted vile, though. Like there was rotting meat in it." I explained, recalling the horrid taste of the potion I had taken just the previous night.

"And why did you take it, might I ask?" he asked. It was a bit irritating, actually, to see him being so calm when the two of us were internally freaking out.

"Um, I don't really know. My brother George, he didn't want me to take it. He said that we didn't know what would happen, which was right I guess, but I really wanted to find out." I finished.

"I won't ask how you got it, because honestly I don't want to know," I audibly sighed as he said this, "but I do know what it is and what the effects will be. As it seems, this potion was pre-matured polyjuice potion. Whoever made it did a poor job, and didn't let it brew long enough. Whenever someone takes pre-matured polyjuice potion the effects are uncertain, but it's obvious that it made Fred switch bodies with someone. The lasting effect though, I'd say that you two will probably stay like this any time between a day and a week. You can handle that, can't you?"

Both of us nodded, relieved that the effects weren't permanent. "Wait," started Hermione, "So we could change back at absolutely any time between now and the end of the week?"

"Well yes, I suppose. I wouldn't worry about it for now, though. Oh, and, Mr. Weasley?" the headmaster started.

I looked up at him, "Yes, Professor Dumbledore?"

"You know that your actions won't go unpunished, right?" he said.

"Yes, Professor." I mumbled, hanging my head.

"But for now, how about you two go back to the Gryffindor Common Room and start your homework?" he said.

As Hermione and I were walking back to the Common Room together, something occurred to me. "Hey Hermione. Since you were at my classes all day, doesn't that mean you need to do my homework today?" I would much rather do a fourth-year's homework than my own.

She looked at me skeptically. "Well, I suppose so…" she started.

"Yes!" I jumped, pumping a fist in the air.

"No need to get so hyped up about it," she murmured.

"Wait, when we get back to the Common Room, I go up to he girls' dormitory, right?" I asked her.

"Well yes, why wouldn't you?" she replied.

"I don't know. Just asking, I guess."

The girls' dorm was much different than I expected it to be. I had always pictured it as a big lump of frilly pink things, with non-moving pictures of Muggle celebrities tacked to the walls. In reality, though, it looked pretty much the same as the boys' room. Maybe a little tidier, and there was a distinct lack of an odor that made the whole room smell like feet (like there was in the boy's dorm. We think it's Dean Thomas's socks, but no one knows for sure).

I stayed up there to do my (or really Hermione's) homework. It was empty aside from a second-year girl writing a letter that I assume was to her parents. Hermione's homework was pretty easy, since I had already learned it two years previously. It was just the basics of transforming inanimate objects into animals, which I had already mastered. I also, for some reason, needed to write an essay on the three forbidden curses for Mad-Eye Moody's class, which I thought was strange. I hadn't learned that yet, and I was already in my sixth year of Hogwarts while Hermione was just a fourth-year.

Nonetheless, I finished everything within an hour and had the rest of the day to myself. _Well, I suppose I should tell George about what happened to me. And I should apologize, while I'm at it,_ I figured. I left the books that I carried around with me on Hermione's bed, and began to walk out the door. Suddenly, I felt a really strange tingling sensation start at the top of my head travel down through my body until it ended at my toes. Then, something really weird began to happen.

I could feel the long hair I was starting to grow accustomed to retract into my scalp, and my petite body changing and distorting. My hips narrowed, and my frame got thicker and more muscular. For a second I was in shock before realizing the change was taking place. _Oh, thank god. Finally I'm back to normal._ I wondered if the Hermione was experiencing the same thing. I hoped that she was in the boys' dorm- it would be really awkward if she was in public.

As soon as I was completely back to normal (I checked the mirror hanging in the bathroom to be sure), I hurried back to the Common Room. There I saw Hermione (looking like herself) sitting in her primary seat by the window. "Hey." I said when I walked up next to her."

"Hey" she replied, still looking out the window.

"You alright?" I asked her. She seemed a little off, even though she _was_ just turned into a guy and then put back to normal.

"Yeah, I guess. It was just weird though, being in someone else's place for a day. It put things into perspective a bit. Oh, by the way, you're going to the Yule Ball with Angelina Johnson. She asked you, well really me, and I said yes, thinking that you'd agree to it."

"Oh, brilliant. Thanks Hermione. You really are as good as Ron says." I tell her.

She flushed red at this, and I wondered if there was something going on between the two of them. After deciding that it was impossible, I decided to tell her about the "Viktor incident" from that morning. After I had explained everything, she looked a little put out.

"That boy, I swear. Fred, there was never going on between Viktor and I. He was just being dramatic. We don't go out, and we never have. I'm sorry you had to deal with that." she apologized.

I shrugged. "It's fine, nothing that I couldn't handle. It was extremely awkward when he tried to kiss me… er, you."

She chuckled. "I could imagine."

"So… That's that, then. It was interesting switching bodies with you for a day. Let's hope that it never happens again." I stuck out my hand, and she shook it, managing a weak smile. "I'll see you around, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, see you." she replied.

And with that, I ran off to find my brother and tell him about the day I had.


End file.
